The Perfect Wedding Dress Gifted By Generous Stranger, Bride Pays It Forward

The perfect dress, no matter what occasion, is often only an elusive idea that does not transfer into reality. The frustration of visiting dress shop after dress shop only to be disappointed once again can be disheartening, especially when the dress in question is for your wedding. Imagine finally finding the dress of your dreams, and the bill has already been paid.

This unbelievably good stroke of luck happened to Elizabeth Jensen, reports ABC News. Shopping for a wedding dress at Elizabeth Cooper Design, the bride-to-be was trying on dress after dress, when she experienced that glowing moment of finding exactly the dress she’d been searching for.

“I went last Friday to go look at wedding dresses at a pop-up shop. I actually ended up going alone and was trying to get opinions from other people in the store. I was really having a lot of fun and then I put on ‘the’ dress. Right when I put [the dress] on, I said, ‘OK, this is the one.’ [The dress] was perfect, so I went around to the front to pay for it.”

When Elizabeth reached the counter with the dress, she was informed by dress shop co-owner Carrie Ling that the $465 dollar dress was paid in full by a woman who wished to remain anonymous. Ling believes the kind stranger came into the dress shop explicitly for the purpose of buying a dress for one of the brides.

“I think she planned this from the get-go. She came in tried on a couple of gowns and I asked, ‘You didn’t like anything today?’ And she said, ‘Actually, I’d like to pay for one of their gowns.’ So, she pointed to Liz and said, ‘I think I’ll pick her.'”

For Elizabeth, the gift of the dress was a dream come true, as was the day her fiancé, Jimmy Gillespie, proposed.

“My fiance proposed Jan. 25 in Vivian Park. We went ice skating, we built a snowman, and he said, ‘I have a short film I want to show you.’ At the end there was a clip of my sister saying, ‘I believe Jimmy has a question for you right now,’ and the video cut out. That’s when I saw him [Jimmy] down on one knee.”

Between the unique, romantic proposal, the perfect dress, and the mystery woman’s generosity, Elizabeth has a wonderful start to her new life with Jimmy. Jensen is so overwhelmed by this unselfish act, she plans to incorporate the event in her wedding, and pay it forward by encouraging others to spread kindness and good will.

“In my mind I thought, ‘That happens at the drive-thru at McDonald’s, that doesn’t happen with a wedding dress. I was just so incredibly touched. To have that person who can look inside themselves to do something nice for someone else, it’s something I’ll never forget for sure… We want to have our marriage built upon that principle of giving to other people. We want to have the news clip of our wedding dress story and a table set up where guests will pledge to be kind and do a service for someone else.”

A simple act of blessing a bride with her favorite dress has become the foundation of a couple just beginning their lives together. A simple act of kindness is never simple. Long after the dress has been worn and put away, the tender feelings and memories will remain.

[Image via Jimmy Gillespie/Facebook]